Patch management - recognising IT vulnerabilities and eliminating them in good time

Never change a running system – or perhaps it’s better to?

The 4th quarter is just around the corner – it's high time to get well-positioned for the coming year!

A topic that has kept companies very busy in the current year and will also gain in importance in the new year is the risk of cyberattacks due to weaknesses in the IT landscape. The so-called „patch management“ makes an important contribution to closing such entry points and gaps in one's own IT infrastructure.

But what exactly is „patch management“ and what are the benefits for me as a business owner? We'll show you this and more in this blog post.

Patch management – what is it?

The first patch manager we all probably got to know was Mum. Again, coming home from the playground with holes in her trousers – oh, Mum will sort that out. Simply stitch a patch onto the knee and off you go!

What at first sounds like a trivial, nostalgic pun is not entirely far-fetched – because the German translation for „to patch“ also means „to mend“. Transferred to the IT world, a patch is software developed to update, optimise, or fix errors in a software system. To achieve this, code changes to existing software are planned, procured, tested, and installed.

These holes (security vulnerabilities) should always be fixed or „patched“ as quickly as possible so that they cannot be exploited by third parties. This is because poorly or not at all installed software updates are entry points for aggressive attackers, computer viruses and other malware. Hackers exploit the resulting problem areas to infiltrate IT structures, manipulate data or access confidential data. Operating systems are just as much in focus as the applications.

„Yes, so you just slap a patch on it and that’s that, is it?“

No! It’s not as one-dimensional as it sounds. Patch management is a multi-stage process that continuously supplies the company network with current updates. As companies nowadays use numerous different software products, it’s an ever-increasing challenge for users to keep track of everything. And that’s exactly where our experienced experts and our automated solutions come in to help.

First of all, the current state of your system environment will be recorded. We will review all of the company's devices and programs, as well as third-party ones, that have access to your systems and determine the need for patches. It must be determined which device requires which patches and to what extent. Indeed, there are various reasons for the need for a patch. Therefore, three patch types are generally distinguished:

Whilst the so-called bugfix corrects errors in the program's source code, the hotfix addresses the urgent resolution of errors in the application program. The third patch type is the classic form of update – the update. It includes functional enhancements, which also serve to fix errors.

If a patch management solution is integrated, it continuously searches for vulnerabilities and corresponding updates.

Why is this so important and what benefits do I get as an entrepreneur?

Patch management can not only close security vulnerabilities but often also brings functional improvements. It ensures that your software and applications are always up to date and run smoothly. Your systems are therefore always available.

A point that isn't always present is that companies must comply with regulations to protect themselves against the ever-increasing risk of cyberattacks. With our management, we help you meet the given compliance requirements.

However, the greatest benefit, as already mentioned, is security. By fixing vulnerabilities in the programs your business uses, you close backdoors and thereby make a significant contribution to protecting your IT infrastructure from attacks. To sum it up in youth slang: with patch management from be-solutions, you'll have „no headaches“. You focus on your core business and we'll have your back – together for your (secure) success!